Deal or No Deal (USA)/Episode 225A/225B

Episode 225A/225B is the twenty-sixth episode of the second season of Deal or No Deal, and the sixty-fifth episode overall.

Guest Stars:

Gameplay

With three six-figure amounts left to open the show, returning contestant Joe Kaiser's luck began turning downward, opening $400,000 and $750,000 on his first two picks. He then accepted a $59,000 deal. In the playout, his deal would have briefly turned upward once again before he found the $300,000 on his second post-game pick. Inside his case: $10,000.
The first complete game of this episode featured a "TURKEY" in lieu of $25. Contestant Nanny hit some rotten luck in the first round, opening $1 million on her first pick and three more six-figure amounts in the first round, resulting in a record low $4,000 initial offer. After opening two more six-figure amounts in the second round (leaving just $100,000), she began making a comeback. Immediately after eliminating the "TURKEY" case, she accepted a $33,000 deal. Her husband had implored her to continue, and she would have been wise to heed the advice: Her case had $100,000.
The second new game hid a "PUMPKIN PIE" in place of the $10 prize. Contestant Terra also had bad luck in her first two rounds, wiping out every large amount save for $200,000 (and getting $5,000 for her first deal). Like Nanny before her, she recovered enough to deal at $46,000. In post-game play, her deal would have reached $72,000; her case had $500.

Host Mandell hit The Banker's face with a cream pie after Nanny's game. During the game, The Banker offered to allow himself to be subjected to a pie in the face had Nanny accepted a $17,000 offer (she turned it down).
During Terra's game, she could have won the contents of a mystery "green case" had she kept the $1 million prize on the board after the first two rounds. However, the grand prize was lost during the first round's third pick.
Updates were offered for $196,000 winner Casey Bell (from the Season One finale) and her trip to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion in concert; $221,000 winner Horston Bowen, who used his winnings to build a new home; and $186,000 winner Tammy Fuller (a New York Jets fan who received a season ticket package from Curtis Martin).
A summary was played of first-season contestants who left the show with $50 or less, as part of what The Banker was "thankful" for at Thanksgiving. The unlucky contestants were Cheryl Jackson, $5; Brett Kurtz, $8; and Dana Belle, $50.
Audience members received pumpkin pies and copies of the Deal or No Deal PC game.
These sort of bad-luck first rounds have never happened on any day other than Thanksgiving (Wynetta Williams removing 5 of the 8 $1M cases in the first round doesn't count, because in a regular game, two of them could have been $50,000 or $75,000), and its notoriety continued through the next year.